This Watermelon Arugula Salad is perfect for a summer dinner party, picnic, or any lunch or dinner featuring grilled shrimp or chicken. It’s cool and refreshing while still maintaining depth and complexity.
About
This is the most beautiful and bright summer salad. The sweet watermelon, blueberries, corn, and white balsamic dressing, the salty feta, the peppery arugula and the crisp red onion all come together for a perfect bite. It has all of the textures, flavors and colors you would want in a salad.
What is dragon fruit? It grows on the Hylocereus cactus and it’s native to southern Mexico and Central America. Dragon fruit has a very unique taste and texture. It’s almost like a kiwi and a pear had a baby! It’s definitely a conversation starter. It also adds enhances the visual appeal of nearly any dish with it’s almost polka-dot seed pattern.
Dragon fruit is hard to find, so if you can’t find it, you can substitute it for any other summer fruit. Peaches, plums, apricot, cantaloupe, mango, etc.
Pairings and Other Notes
Food Pairings for Watermelon Arugula Salad
This salad makes a perfect accompaniment to basically any backyard barbecue fare. While this is typically served as an appetizer or side dish at meals in our house, it could easily be amplified to become the main entree. Adding a light protein such as chicken or shrimp or even some fresh avocado can easily make this a satisfying lunch or dinner all by itself.
Drink Pairings for Watermelon Arugula Salad
If you’ve decided to use this as an entree and want to have some appropriate drink pairings, we recommend the following:
- Crisp, snappy white wines such as Napa Sauvignon Blanc, Albariño or Vinho Verde
- Light bodied, fruit forward reds such as California Pinot Noir, Dolcetto, Beaujolais
- Just about any sparkling wine would work well. Feeling frisky? Try some Lambrusco or an Aperol Spritz
- Cool, refreshing cocktails featuring clear spirits like Tequila, Vodka or Gin would be great options
- Seltzers, sours and ciders could all work well too. Seriously!
Recipe
Watermelon Arugula Salad
This salad is perfect for a summer dinner party, picnic, or any lunch or dinner featuring grilled shrimp or chicken. It’s cool and refreshing while still maintaining depth and complexity.
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp White Balsamic Vinegar
- 1 Tbsp Real Maple Syrup, NOT pancake syrup 🙂
- 3 Tbsp Light Flavored Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1/4 tsp Kosher Salt
- 4 Cups Fresh Arugula
- 1/2 Cup Red Onions, thinly sliced
- 1/2 Cup Fresh Blueberries
- 1 Cup Fresh Watermelon, diced small
- 1/2 Cup Dragon Fruit, diced small (you can sub peaches, plums, apricot or any other fresh summer fruit)
- 1/2 Cup Cooked Corn (can be grilled, boiled, roasted, canned, etc.)
- 1/2 Cup Crumbled Feta Cheese
- Additional Kosher Salt, to taste
Directions
- Step 1 Combine white balsamic, maple syrup, olive oil and 1/4 tsp kosher salt into a bowl and whisk to combine thoroughly.
- Step 2 Add arugula to serving bowl/dish of your choice. Be sure to fluff it up and pile high.
- Step 3 Top arugula with red onions, blueberries, watermelon, dragon fruit, corn and feta.
- Step 4 Drizzle everything with White Balsamic Vinaigrette, lightly toss, then sprinkle with a pinch of kosher salt.
- Step 5 Enjoy!
About the Author
Lauren is a classically trained, professional chef. A culinary school graduate, she has spent time working organic farms in the Italian countryside and was the pastry/sous chef at a high profile restaurant in Dallas prior to becoming a full-time personal chef. Her cooking style is often referred to as “rustic.” Being a personal chef, she is not bound by a single type of cuisine and has had the opportunity to experiment with hundreds of regional recipes from all over the world.
